With another chapter of Takeshi Kovacs’ life concluded, here’s what we know so far about Altered Carbon season 3. Developed for TV by Laeta Kalogridis and based on the books by Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon debuted on Netflix in 2018. Joel Kinnaman starred in the first season of the sci-fi series, with Anthony Mackie taking over the role of Takeshi in season 2.
Altered Carbon is set in a world where humans are implanted with a “stack” in their spine when they are babies, which stores their mind and memories and can be transferred from one body to the next, granting potentially eternal life. Takeshi is a former soldier-turned-rebel, who fell in love with the leader of a resistance group that was trying to restore the natural balance of life and death. In season 2 Takeshi manages to track down his long-lost love, Quellcrist Falconer, only to find her a changed woman with a violent vendetta.
The ending of Altered Carbon season 2 leaves the story wide open for further adventures, but when can fans expect to see Takeshi return? Here’s what we know so far about Altered Carbon season 3.
Altered Carbon Season 3 Renewal Status
Altered Carbon hasn’t yet been renewed for season 3, though that’s not unusual for Netflix. The streaming service typically waits anything from a few weeks to a couple of months to announce a renewal decision for its shows. News about Altered Carbon season 3 can probably be expected by the end of April 2020.
Altered Carbon Season 3 Release Date
There was a long wait for Altered Carbon season 2, which released on Netflix more than two years after the first season. This was in part due to how long Netflix waited before making a renewal decision; Altered Carbon season 2 wasn’t announced until July 2018, five months after the first season released. Star Anthony Mackie also had a busy schedule, with reshoots for Avengers: Endgame occurring up until late 2018 and then the sci-fi thriller Synchronic filming until January 2019. If Altered Carbon season 3 experiences similar delays then fans may have to wait until 2022 for Takeshi’s return, but with a faster renewal decision a mid-to-late 2021 release is more likely.
Altered Carbon Season 3 Story Details
Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Altered Carbon season 2.
We can expect Takeshi to be wearing a new face when he returns in Altered Carbon season 3, as his elite combat sleeve was incinerated by Angelfire when he sacrificed his own life to kill the Elder inhabiting his sleeve. At first it seemed that Takeshi was gone for good, with Takeshi Kovacs Prime (a clone of Takeshi’s original birth sleeve inhabited by a copy of his mind from before he first met Quell) poised to take over as the show’s protagonist. However, in the final scene of season 2 Poe returns after being shut down and discovers that he has a raw human DHF hidden inside his memory. Poe and Dig analyze it, and Dig declares that they should “get the good whisky ready” - confirming that the DHF is Takeshi.
Poe was present at the final battle with the Elder-possessed Carrera, but was forcibly shut down shortly before Takeshi’s sacrifice. The last thing he does before disintegrating is write down a sticky note with a decryption key for Takeshi’s DHF on it, but it’s unclear when exactly the DHF was saved to Poe’s memory. We’ll have to wait for Altered Carbon season 3 to find out how much this Takeshi remembers, and to see what body he will be spun up into next.
Altered Carbon season 1 was about Takeshi solving a mystery in order to earn his freedom, and in season 2 he uses that freedom to track down Quell. With Quell having travelled off Harlan’s World to try and reignite the Uprising elsewhere, Takeshi may choose to follow her, or stay on Harlan’s World and work together with Takeshi Prime. There may also be another significant time jump (Altered Carbon season 2 picks up thirty years after the season 1 finale), in which case Takeshi could be just about anywhere when we see him next.
More: Why Altered Carbon Recast Joel Kinnaman’s Takeshi Kovacs For Season 2
